Abstract

Between 1855 and 1867, Liberalism grew from a minority movement to
become the national political consensus.1 This apparent monopoly of ideological
discourse enjoyed by Liberalism was, of course, helped by the disappearance
of 'Conservatism' from the political vocabulary, disgraced by its
association with the European Intervention. Liberalism, by contrast,
emerged in 1867 re-enforced by its close association with the patriotic resistance
to the Empire. It is nevertheless remarkable that Liberalism, a secular
and individualistic doctrine, took such a hold in a country with such a profound
Hispanic and Catholic legacy. It is all the more extraordinary when it is
considered that liberal hegemony was achieved over a period of economic
stagnation and relatively limited social change. Mexico's liberal consensus
was achieved before the emergence of a substantial, economically influential
middle class.